Biokyra

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Murphy’s
Law influence in the design of a medical product can cause harm, irreparable
damage, and even death. After all, according to the theory, “if someone can use
a product the wrong way, then they will”. The goal of medical device engineers
is to design products that are intuitive, easy-to-use, and simple.

The
challenge is to project devices that never allow Murphy’s Law to work. Medical
technology needs to be developed based on how the patient thinks, feels and
behaves. It needs to fit perfectly and perform flawlessly.

Bryce
Rutter, founder and CEO of Metaphase Design Group, provides a cheat sheet for
the top five critical success factors in eliminating human error:

“1. Keep it Simple­

Less is more. Don’t get cute or clever.

2. Create a Visual Hierarchy

Everything is connected someway. Group controls and displays need to be
based on function, importance, and frequency of use. Establish
visual importance through size, position, color, contrast, and shape.

3. Strive for Order

Our brains like order, not chaos. Aligning and grouping fields,
functions, and buttons and dividing content into digestible and meaningful
chunks will create order and simplify a graphical user interface.

4. Design for Consistency

We like patterns. Good graphical user interfaces use
consistent behavior throughout the application.

5. Embrace Conventions

Experience
is empowering. Building
upon a user's prior knowledge and experience expedites learning and efficacy.”

Sunday, June 12, 2016

2016 is not even over
yet but it has already been a fantastic year for billionaire businessman Elon
Musk: Tesla Motors revealed its Model 3 car in March and in April SpaceX was
finally able to land the reusable Falcon 9 rocket on a platform at sea. Musk has
brought his ambition, innovative ideas and hard work to everything he touches:
besides the electric vehicle company and the private spaceflight firm, Elon
Musk also cofounded Paypal and has plans to colonize Mars by 2014. However,
healthcare is probably the sector in which his golden touch is needed the most,
with the aging population and medical costs going out of control.

One important reason
why Elon Musk has been able to drive breakthrough changes in the areas he’s
been working with is that he’s not afraid to aim high and it’s time for that
kind of big thinking in healthcare. “Instead of treating cancer, we need people
set on eradicating it”, statesJamie Hartford - MD+DI's
editor-in-chief. How
inconceivable is it really to think we can’t wipe out this disease by the time
we see the first generation of men on Mars?

Another great thing
about Musk is his realization that he cannot achieve everything by himself:
SpaceX’s open-sourced design and Tesla’s open patents are an example of this –
as Musk explained in 2014, “sharing intellectual property benefits not just his
companies but the entire world”. Our industry players need to start thinking
outside of their own organizations if we want to solve many of the healthcare
problems we face today.

Elon Musk’s ability to
fascinate has truly inspired his followers to go on to launch their own
groundbreaking companies – here’s to at least one of them come to disrupt
healthcare…